Valve device for sprinkler systems



Sept. 7 1926.

G. l. ROCKWOOD VALVE DEVICE FOR SPRINKLER SYSTEMS Filed Oct. 27, 1919 2Sheets-Sheet 1 MW a/yafir'aahqafl GEFM.

Sept. 7 1926.

G. l. ROCKWOOD VALVE DEVICE FOR SPRINKLER SYSTEMS Filed Oct. 27, 1919 2Sheets-Sheet 2 MMAR ozyeffz'bcirww? Patented Sept. 7, 1926.

vGEORGE I. RQCKWOOD, 0F W'ORCESTEB, JVEASSACHUSE'ITS. I

.VALYEIDEVICIE FOR SifItWKWB-fiYSTIEM Application filed Oetqber 27',i919; Serial I Ip. 333,619.

The object this invention is to provide an improved ClIfi BlGIilJRtlvalve dev ce for sprinkler systems whichshall be convenientantl sure inoperation, easy to ma'nu-,

5 facture, and which also, if desired, can be usetl to make the system'Operate inter ehaiigeably either oufthe dry pipe plan or the wet pipe In[a spriu'kler system arranged on the dry pipe plan, feenipressecl'air isgiritrecluceal at a pressure per squaremeh less thauthat of the Watersupply. Two congelntly acting valves are employed, the larger valvebeing subjected were air pressure usuallv a small amount of water beingintroclueecl into the system above the larger valve to seal it againstair leakslancl the smaller valve being employed to holcl back the water.

is the two valves p'e'rate" conjeintly, the

air pressure acting on the larger valve, at theugh less per square inchthan the pressure of the water dufthe water valve, will normally heldthe '-\vaterrvalve in' seated position. 1

operation by the fusing or releasing (if one for inei'e of thespriiikler heafclsythe air will escape'through the Seine aucl the airpressure the system will be decreased unti'llthe .er pressure acting Ontheivater valve mu throw both valves to opeup'ositienf ahd water willflew into the system aucl out through the" releasecl sprinkler heads.TWh en this seems, aui'alariii" device eonueetecl piping to the spacebetween the two valves is operatedI I, v, p

is air s normally ma ntained ur the sprinkler use iu lo eatious"wherethei pipes and sprinkler heads ar efsubjected to tempera" tures belowfreezing; i i I Another plan efer arranging a sprinkler s tem is what'iscalled 'the water or' wet pipe? plan; Injt is plan the eutire system'isfilled with water uncler pressure, and a cheek *qztlvaliifteel bylthetlow of water wheu one vor merej ot the sprinkler heatls "is releasechis employed to eoutrol'the flow to the al'arm, 0r'

he alarm actuating device." This plan-is used in summer 'or' n a heateclbudding. 1

WVhen a valve device is used to "make the" system work on theftl'ry pipe1 plan, thejlarger er air valve must not only seat accurately, but, whenseated, must act also to ;h'old the \Vheu a QTY pipe system is calledinto thernie're, as the 0 "bearing area,

sf,*stem,"the sarhe'i's fielryl and: theretere' is adapted for winteruse or for smaller or water alve on-its seat. *Aspraetree wthdifiereutial'valves has shown, the

smaller valve and seat should have co-acting greuutl iietallie surfacesWithOtlt auy play betweeu'then' should. e'd ltaet with itsseat through aflexlll le uater a l su'ehas ruhbeigf in Order; to. Secure a1r t ghtnessread ly and also to s enable "smaller valve. V 7 I i I liut there isordinarily a disadvantage in the use of any knowu elastic jnia jetial'iu a 'dry pipe valve clue'te its tent ehc'yjte Cling tightly to itsseat by asert fefg iling6r eerrosive" action, the result of the lo riiggcontinued app icatien Of theairpressure"befre the valve ope'ratesin' are. Hitherto" sueh avclhesiou has bee u a n elerriehtof' riskf ef ureofthe valve'to operate t under. lowzw er f' supply pressurg'iii theeasee't these of differential valv es" having as preferred in thepresent luv'eution" hau Whe'u'the twpv ages iue gle. Furtot axes to eachethe valyfe. by trans'mi thewater valvet theheariiigpinlpr upon whichthe air valve pivots; it is'ust i necessary in sueh valve elevicesft o}a sha ift with a co iisiclerab e 'elia met'er ar d cl also a n ehtighter fit in its hearings than would. he nee ssary in a clry' pipevalve of equal size water-valve not having its valve 'aX'esco'iueiclentf This is because in the latter device the air ivalve,

v i {p bear ng shal has euly U0 suppo t the weight ef the valve andguide itto amtfreiuits seat, au cl is netsubje ct tdahystresshy thepressure ef water en the waterj valve.

my present iiiv'entiou, Ipfoyiftle means;

st oi for increasing the leverage of:the'j tl the water yalve aga nst"the an valve; which increase comes iuto play a fte i meve ent otth'e'valves has begun, and "whieh inultliplies the pressure usu allyavailablein valves, otthis type to pull thefrubbef dill eit'jits t airpv vei it e n s i e i w th i l.

eat'in advance" pt puttingjipreslsu re the axis or" ill? air 1 valveinclined to the axis] thewater valve, I v since su'elrva lve elevieeshaveairvalves'of 5 ihueh less area relativejly td is fte u e ja smajllei f: mg part ofthethrustef H v v(i0 Theilargeror air valve,en theetherhauel,

hat of the water v seat'iand te't'urn the yalvea-heut its shaft Vagaiustthe starting f etien engendered "by corrosion;

1e" a'eeemplish these etfe s; I

have'meuutecl the valves on separateip votsor shafts and havecounterweighted the larger walve so that gravity will act as a force,independent of the water supply, normally to hold said valve on itsseat, and will rock said valve away from its seat after a partialmovement thereof; and I have provided separable means between the twovalves comprising a strut, preferably having a cam combined therewith,loosely pivoted on the water valve and pressedupon by the air valve.l'preferably mount this strut on the water valve in such a manner as toallow its. angularposition to vary slightly as pressure is applied to itby the closing force of the air valve, thus increasing the pressurewhich holds the small valve to its seat.

, T he small or water valve may also be "counter-weighted to work onthesame plan previously 7 described in connection with the large valve andthe parts also may be arranged so that the smaller valve when open willact as a lock to keep the large valve from accidentally dropping back toits seat after the valves have been thrown to open position. 7

When the valve device is used to make the system operate on the wet pipeplan, the air valve is held or left full open in inoperative positionand the water valve is set to operate as a check valve to prevent waterflowing backing in the system or to the alarm device, except when asprinkler opens.

As the water valve and seat have to be accurately ground vfor thereasons previously pointed out, I combine a flexible or yielding valvedevice with the water valve,

which yielding valve controls a port con nected to operate the alarm. Asthis extra valve is yielding, or flexible, it will not interfere withthe water valve being forced powerfully and accurately to its seat when'both valvesare used conjointly in the dry pipe plan. 7

The best way now known to me for prac- I ticing this invention is shownin the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which Fig. 1 is asectional elevation ofv my improved device set to operate on the drypipe .tion' the water valve assumes when the system is called intooperation. r

1 Referring to the drawings, and in detail i V A designates a casingwhich may be made out of two shell castings for ease in manufacture andwhich casing is provided with a removable plate a. r i

designates'the large or air valve mounted on a plate B carried or formedon an arm or arms B swinging or turning on a pivot B The arm or armsBare arranged to form a counter-weightfor the large valve B so positionedthat gravity will normally 7 ct as an independent force to keep thevalve B on its seat and so thatafter the valve is partially lifted orrocked from its scat, gravity will act to rock the valve away from itsseat. These parts thus act on the,

plan disclosed in reissue Letters Patent granted to me October 28,1919', No. 145%.

The metal of the arm or arms B can be n ployed to get'thlscounterqvelghtlng efset but it is preferred to provide the same,dditionally with a soft metal plug or core C which can be trimmed or whttled to get exactly the right balancing effect, and the end of the coreis projected so asto strike ae'ainst themetal of the casing to form a.

stop to limit thefull opening movement of v the valve 13, when the platea is removed for inspection as indicated in dotted lines 1n Fig. l. Thearms may also be provided with an additional soft metal stop'C set inposition to strike on the removable plate a to determine the openposition of the valve B, 7

when the system comes into operation.

The valve 13 is preferably made of rubber, leather or other flexiblematerial and cooperates with a valve seat or ring D which can be setinto the casing. The large valve B and seat D are preferably inclined asshown. f 7 7 Y E designates the water valve which cooperates with aground valve seat F set intov the casing. The water valve E is car riedby an arm G mounted on a pivot G on theopposit-e side of the waterrelatively to the pivot B The armG isarranged'and shaped so as tocounter-weight the water valve E on the same plan that the air valve Bis counter-Weighted; that is, so that the same will swing by gravity-to, the full open. position after a partial opening; movement thereof,but so that the same will tend normally [10 seat by. gravity. The arm Gmay beprovided with a soft metal core H for this purpose which may beprojected so as to form a striking stop for the water valve as itassumes its. full open position and which. also w ll act as a leo closeror valve moving with the water valve I for controlling the leak pipeconnection as hereinafter described. i

. The Water valve Eis held in'the arinG by a bolt 1 threaded into thesame as illus-' trated in detail in Fig. '3. This boltl has upwardlyprojected slotted arms I. r

J designates strut having trunnions l fitted in the slotted arms I andloosely held in place thereinrby caps Piattached by 7 screws to the topof the arms, I.

A cani J extends from the struts J and engages a leaf' spring J havlngan upward. extension J rattache'd by screws to the bolt 1, which springyieldinglv holdsthe str'ut in upright position. The strut J isthussidewise yieldingly held in position. The plate B has a notch 13 on theunder side thereof which engages with the top end of the strut J whenThe strut thereforethe valves are closed. forms a sidewise yieldingseparable connection between the valves.

By arranging the axis of the strut substantially in line or parallelwith the center of the water valve E when the sameis closed, thepressure on theair'valve is'frnultiplied and transmitted to the watervalve "with a sort of folding toggle action so that the an water valvemore powerfully to its seatthan lighter air'pressur'e is'eff'eetive toforce the would be "the case if the valve Bbore directly on the valve E.j

This actlonis obtained because-as the air valve is pressed downwardly bythe airpres sure it will have quite a little swinging move- .inent aboutits pivotor shaft B The pres sure of this swinging movement will be apwater valve will first be applied through the strut with a togglingaction to the air valve which will'g lve a-very powerful upward thrustthereon to lift the air Valvevery i forcibly from its seat thisincreasing leverv age or toggleactionzis obtained because as the watervalve is pressedupwardly it will turn about its pivot or shaft Thepressure of this upward movement will be applied through the trunnionsJ. -One arm .7 of'the toggle will be the radius ofthe swingtance J to B.

ing action. of the water Valveor the distance G and J, and the otherarinwill be thedisover so that it will start on-itsfurther swingingmovement, the strut J preferably folding baclrand lyin down on-top ofthe qwater valve as shown in Fig. 6, asthe' strut J folds down on thenut I, the CEIIII'JZ will snap, out of the extension J ofthe'spring Jand the strut will remain .in itslowered po- 's1t1o'n. r 7 When it isdesired to into vertical or operative position, thesanle .is. forcibly}pushed, to an :upright position; i forcing the point of the cain Jpastthepro- 65 g jection' J? on :the' spring J e -As the lower Thecontinued upward movement of thewater valve will tipthe air valve setthe strut againpartof the CELiXl'lS made flat where the spring engagesthe .san'ie', the strut will be spring centered or held so thatit canhave flylelfling sidewise movement either way, so that a vthe togglingact-ions, previously described can take place. Thisifold'edoperation ofthe strut is advantageous because if the valves should not get-to wideopen posltionand should return to-their'seats after a partial or initialopening, movement thereof, the i ,strutJ would be out of the way asshown 1n dotted-lines in 3 sothatthewater valve would'not'be held to itsseat and water-pressure would act on the under side of the large valveand openthe'same, an'dpreventwhat is technically known as watercoluinning,

that is, the filling ofthesystem above the largevalve to asuflioientheight to keep'the valves fclosed by the1r'd1fferentialfaction,- althoughthe systeinvhaslbeen called into oper- .ation by therelease ofzjone. or'more sprinkler headsm s lVhen the water valve isopen ifithe air valve "should any reason swingback towards'its seat theopen water valve will prevent the a valve from return ngto its seat -'asthe plate B will strili'ethe u ,er' I point 'of the water; valveabeforethe valve B can/reach its seat D. r

"valve E- is at- :tached a piece of flexible nietal K which car-.

' To. theiside' of the water ies 'aleather :or rubber valve face K. At

the seating, ,ofthe water valve by air pressure acting on the large airvalve through i tie strut or stud Jis not interfered with. i

'A. bushing'L is threadedinto thecasing,-

the inner end ofthisr'bush-inglbeing machined to form. avalveiseatandthe core lama ch 'd toierni. avalve to cooperatethere Iwith. A leak or d, in pipell" 'is'connecte the side of the.valve'Lseat'D, an additional r portlK isprovide'tl togwhich a pipeextend- I ing tothealarm' is connected. Asthis'ad-g r ditionalvalve'is'fiexible or is yieldingly car- -;ried bythewater valve'E, theoperationof the bushing"L. gl Vihen the valves, B and i E are in closedposition shown in Fig. 1

pass a say. through the-leak pipe elffbut I any slight leaf-ragepastlhewater valve will when the systeingis called into operation and Q?the valves thrown to o'penposition as shown I in 2, this lea-k ordraiirwill'be cutoff or closed; r

hen the device is used on the drypipe plan, bothivalves arecclosed andare setfin the position shown 1n Figfil. *lf-thefs ys teinis called'intoop ration, both-valves are thrown toopen p'ositlonias shownfain Fig, 2

1 and an unobstructed flow of water is allowed thro'ughjthe valvedevice! and water. will flow to th I -After. operation; when'itisdesired to replate a. removeth .the

alarm through-the port K set the v'alve'sftne l. gecvalve swung";downfto:ihoriZonta quoitien as showne'ln; dotted lines ."iii E1 thewater valve pulled down onto itsseat, the strut moved back to verticalposition, the air valve pushed back onto its seat, and the plate areplaced.

When the valve device is to be used on the wet pipe plan, the parts areadjusted as shown in Fig. 5, so that the air valve remains open or ininoperative positionand the water valve alone is employed. When workingOn this plan, it is not necessary to drain the space intermediate thetwo Valvesand the pipe L is closed by a suitable valve. If the system iscalled into operation when operatin on this plan the water valve E willlift and the valve K will be raised and water will flow through the pipeK to operate the alarm device.

1 In some uses, it may be desired not to have the water valve balancedso that it will remain in open position after being partially liftedfrom its seat as for illustration, inplaces where excessive water hammermay beencountered as in city mains,

To provide for this purpose a bolt-M is threaded into the casing and acollar M .is arranged on the end of the bolt. When the screw iswithdrawn as far as possible,

struction described is preferred.

. the

the same does not interfere with the full opening movement of thecounter-weighted water valve as will be seen by referring to Fig. 2.\Vhen it is desired to have the water valve always return to its seat,the

bolt is screwed into the casing as shown in Fig. 6, which position ofthe bolt will prevent the water, valve from remaining in open positionas its center of gravity can not move to the right of its pivot, an earG being provided on the arm G for this.

purpose. The collar on the boltwill thus determine the adjustmentnecessary to set- .without'departing from the scope of my invention asexpressed in the claims. 7

Having thus fully described 'my invention, what I claim and desiretosecure by Letters Patent is I 1. A valve device for sprinkler systemscomprising a casing having a large seat, a'

valve pivoted to the casing, a small valve seat, a smaller valveindependently pivoted to the casing, and separable connections carriedby said valves and movable relatively thereto and arranged so that whenin one position the large valve will act therethrough to hold the.smaller valve to its seat, "said valves in their opening movement movingsaid connections to a position where they remain out of operativerelation between the valves, whereby if therlarge valve returns to itsseat after an opening move ment thereof said connections will not func-'7 tion to hold closed the smaller valve even if the latter has returnedto its seat.

2..A valve device for sprinkler systems con'iprising a casing having alarge seat, a valve pivoted to the casing, a smaller valve seat, anindependently pivoted smaller valve, a strut pivoted to the smallervalve in position to be engaged by the large valve, a cam extending fromsaid strut, a spring engaging said cam, the parts being arranged so thatwhen an opening movement occurs the strut will be turned down toinoperative position and the cam released from said sarin whereb if thelar e valve returns D.

to itsseat after an opening movement thereof it will not close thesmaller valve.

3. A valve device for use in sprinkler systems comprising a large valveand seat, a relatively smaller valve and seat and'separable meansbetween the valves compris mg a pivoted strut carried by one valve and 7directly engaging with the other valve so as to fold to inoperativeposition after a partial or initial opening movement of the valves. 7

4. A valve device for use in sprinkler systems comprising a casinghaving alarge and a small valve independently pivoted to the casing,means for counterweighting the small valve so that gravity normally actsto keep the valve on its seat and becomes effective to rock said valvefrom its seat after a partial movement thereof and to hold the valve inits open position, and separable connections between the valves, theparts bemg so arranged that aft-er the valves have been opened the smallvalve will stand inposition toprevent the large valve from returning toits seat. 7 j

5. A valve device for use in sprinkler systems comprising a casinghaving a large valve seat and a small valve seat, valves 1 pivoted tothe casing, means for counter- 't 'th ""ll- 1 th t t ii el ll m e sma erva ie so a gl21V1 normally acts to keep the same on its seat and becomeseffectivev to rock SitlCl valve from its seat after a partial openingmove ment thereof, a bolt threade'd'into the casing and means fordetermining the adjustment of said bolt so that the same can be set toprevent the smaller valvemfrom remaining open.

6. A valve systems, comprising a large valve and seat, a relativelysmaller valve and seat, separable meansbetween said valves arranged sothat they can be usedconjointly or so that the smaller valve can beusedalone, a port alongside the smaller valve connected to an device foruse in sprinkler alarm, and a yielding valve carried by the smallervalve for controlling, said port, whereby the alarm will be OperatedWhether the valves are used conjointly or only the smaller valve isused.

7. A valve device for use in sprinkler systems comprising a largevalveand seat, a relatively smaller valve and seat, a drain or drip openingfor the space between the two valves, and a valve or closure for saidopening attached to the smaller valve.

or drain opening for the space between the two valves, and a valve orclosurefor said opening attached to the smaller valve.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afiixed my signature.

GEORGE 1. RocKWooD;

